Aston Martin were expected to bring upgrades to Barcelona, but their new sidepod design will turn a lot of heads in the Red Bull garage.
The 2022 season went off to a very horrid start for Aston Martin. They went point-less in their first three outings this year, made some amends in Imola and Miami. The path looked clear for them, and fans expected them to charge even further up the field in Barcelona.
However, the Silverstone outfit have now stirred up controversy before even FP1 started. On Thursday, pictures of their brand new sidepod design went viral on the internet, and it has baffled majority of F1 fans.
The B-version of the Aston Martin AMR22 has left the garage. Looks a bit like a repainted Red Bull. #AMuS #F1 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/h42SFJTkC4
— Tobi Grüner 🏁 (@tgruener) May 19, 2022
Minor changes in design are understandable, since 2022 is a year when teams are adapting to major aerodynamic regulation changes. However, the sidepod design of the AMR22, which they’ll field in Barcelona this weekend, looks absolutely identical to that of Red Bull’s.
Fans on Twitter were very quick to notice this. Once they noticed the similarity, they slandered Aston Martin all over social media.
F1 Twitter trolls Aston Martin for copying Red Bull’s design
This isn’t the first time the Silverstone outfit have copied other teams’ car design. Back in 2020 when the team was known as Racing Point, they caused massive trouble when they copied Mercedes’ 2019 car design. It earned their car the infamous nickname of the ‘Pink Mercedes’ within the F1 paddock.
Its basically the same pic.twitter.com/ax2IyI47V6
— Zayn Daniel🧬 (@Zayn_Daniel10) May 19, 2022
We still don’t know if Lawrence Stroll’s team copied Red Bull’s design for sure. However, the pictures do suggest big similarities between the two. “It looks like a re-painted Red Bull,” F1 journalist Tobi Grüner said.
Aston Martin/Racing point after copy pasting another Quick car pic.twitter.com/jjxBAUWCm5
— Jorden 🎈 (@Jorduuh) May 19, 2022
Seb finally getting to drive a redbull again before he retires
— Omar Hassan (@OHassan5) May 19, 2022
Aston Martin are ninth in the Drivers’ Championship with six points to their name. They are three points ahead of Williams and nine behind Haas.